Sunpelt and Nettleleaf's Story
Sunpelt crept along the soft floor. Checking that the wind was facing the other direction, she continued to move her slender body along the forest floor, her underbelly brushing the grass. She heard a loud crackle as a slender cat jumped out of the ferns. Sunpelt growled in fury at the intruder of her hunting. "Heatherpaw! You interrupted my hunting! I was just about to catch that squirrel." Sunpelt's apprentice gazed at her paws "I'm sorry Sunpelt, I didn't know you were here." Sunpelt gazed at her apprentice, her eyes softening, "don't worry, it was a small squirrel anyway. Just be more careful next time" Sunpelt turned and padded away, her apprentice following closely behind her. It had been nearly a moon since Fireclan's quarrel with Shadowclan. Many cats from Shadowclan had joined together to kill for power and Riverclan, Windclan and Thunderclan had helped to drive them out with a few other good Shadowclan members. The leftover Shadowclan warriors did not want to keep their name as Shadowclan, and when they asked Starclan for advice, their medicine cat had come back with a sign that Starclan had accepted their wishes. When Shadowclan's medicine cat - Minnowclaw (originally from Riverclan) revealed the clan's previous leader, who had been killed by Shadowclan, had chosen their name as Fireclan, they had all agreed with his descision. Sunpelt padded along with Heatherpaw until she heard rustling in the bushes. She jumped as a strong Riverclan warrior stepped out. She recognised the large Riverclan warrior straight away, "Nettleleaf!" she hissed. "I should've known Riverclan would be running around our territory again. Rustlestar told me he spotted you on a patrol the other day creeping around the river that flows through our territory. He chased you out, remember?" Sunpelt growled at the warrior. She and her apprentice would be enough to chase this warrior out of their territory, but she didn't want herself to get injured any more then they had been from the battle. The clan needed their warriors to help them survive, she realised that taking a threatening approach wouldn't have been the best way to sort things out. She saw Nettleleaf's eyes flash with fury before he spoke, "I need to speak with Rustlestar," He replied guffly. She wondered why the stubborn warrior wasn't clawing her fur off yet. She turned around awkwardly and flicked her tail for him to follow, "Come on then, we don't have all day." When the three were back at camp, Sunpelt stalked off towards the fresh kill pile and sat next to Twig, a handsome Fireclan warrior who had originally been a stray. He and Sunpelt had always been close, and it was only lately - ever since he had saved her from being killed by a Shadowclan warrior in The Great Battle that they had started to realise that they loved each other more than anything. They groomed each other's pelts for what seemed like a lifetime before Nettleleaf came out from Rustlestar's den. Sunpelt nodded her head in greeting to the warrior and it looked like he was about to come over to her before he looked at Twig, turned around and stalked off out of the clearing. Had anyone else noticed that? She thought as she watched the Riverclan warrior leave the camp. She longed to follow after him and ask him why he hadn't said goodbye, but then she realised how mouse brained she was being. Why would she do that? And why did she want to? Dew swept over the camp as Sunpelt woke up. She and Twig had slept side-by-side in the warriors den, keeping warm from each other. As she got up, being careful not to wake Twig, she decided she would go and hunt alone near the Riverclan border. As Sunpelt raced through the undergrowth - the dew soaked leaves making her run even faster, she realised she couldn't feel the wet and boggy ground underneath her. It was only when she ran into a strong Riverclan warrior that she truly saw how far out of Fireclan territory she had come. "Watch where you going!" The cat snapped as he turned around to face her, it was only then did she realise that she had run into Nettleleaf. "Sunpelt!" The Riverclan warrior seemed surprised rather than hostile. "I'm sorry I was running so fast I must've missed the border!" Nettleleaf didn't look convinced. "I didn't! I was going out to get prey!" Sunpelt snapped. She thought she saw hurt in his eyes but before she could say anything else she heard a low growl coming out of the bushes. She whipped around to see Twig standing in the bramble behind her, "What are you doing in Riverclan! And talking to Riverclan warriors too." His tone was harsh and Sunpelt stared at him in disbelief, was he really jealous of her talking to Nettleleaf? Before she could answer, Nettleleaf stepped in front of her, "She wasn't doing anything wrong! She ran too far into your territory and crossed the border, that's all." Twig looked furious, "And why can't Sunpelt speak for herself? Or does she need you to do that for her too?" Sunpelt was wounded, why did Twig think that she wanted Nettleleaf to do everything for her? ''Nettleleaf crouched down ready to spring at Twig. "At least I trust her! You need to follow her everywhere she goes!" Sunpelt jumped in front of the warriors before they could go any further, "Stop! Both of you are acting like a mouse-brains!" Nettleleaf's fur started to lie flat again before Twig threw a sharp remark at Nettleleaf, "And it's a good thing I did! If you and Sunpelt keep meeting like this, you might have to be driven out - but, like father like son, or did you forget that your father was Hawkfrost?" Nettleleaf sprang at Twig, fury and rage reflecting in his ice blue eyes. Sunpelt had never seen him so angry, not even in the battle with Shadowclan. "I am nothing like my father, and I have proven that!" He growled, pinning Twig down with all his anger. Twig struggled underneath him, fear and anger in his eyes. Sunpelt leaped onto Nettleleaf's back and knocked him off of Twig. He glared at Twig - with indignation and fury so strong, Sunpelt thought that at any minute he would turn Twig into a ball of flames. Twig turned and limped back into the bushes, Sunpelt stared after him and her belly churned with a feeling of hurt and grief. She could have just lost her mate forever. She whipped around to face Nettleleaf, "Why did you do that!?" She hissed at him. "I was trying to hel-""Well you didn't!" She was refraining from springing at him herself and clawing his ears off. She stalked off towards her own territory, and when Nettleleaf called after her, she ignored him and didn't look back. Back at camp, Sunpelt settled down next to Shortstep and Nightwhisper who looked at her understandingly. "Don't worry, he'll come through," Shortstep meowed. Sunpelt just nodded at them and walked off to grab a large swallow from the fresh kill pile. As she tucked in, she saw her brother padding into camp with a large rabbit in his mouth, "Wow! Great catch Spiderfoot!" She called out to him. His eyes gleamed with pride at the praise as he heaved his kill into the fresh kill pile. Sunpelt finished her meal with swift bites and realised that her limbs were feeling heavy. She decided that she would go hunting, on the opposite side of Fireclan territory. ''As far away from Riverclan as she could be, she whispered quietly to herself. As she walked out of the bramble filled tunnel that entranced the camp, she ran straight into a deep grey coloured tom. She shook her head in surprise to see Nettleleaf standing in front of her. She glared at him with fierce eyes. "Why are you here?" She hissed. "You'll be crow-food if anyone sees you here!" Nettleleaf's eyes briefly looked elsewhere, as if he expected a cat to jump out in front of them at that moment. "I had to speak to you! I couldn't stop myself coming here." Emotion was coming off of him in strong waves. Sunpelt looked around, furious that she was about to agree to meet with him against her clan, "Follow me" She grunted unwillingly. She knew that she had unmistakable feelings for this cat, but she didn't know if she could break the warrior code for a cat from another clan. "I'm sorry for everything that I did to you back there." He meowed. Sunpelt looked away, she couldn't bear to look into his eyes. She was afraid that if she did then she wouldn't be able to look away again. "I'm sorry for crossing the border." She tried to sound as formal as possible but her voice got stuck in her throat as she looked up into his eyes. As soon as their eyes met, Sunpelt felt like she could never look away again. His strong muscular pelt was gleaming in the light and she noticed he was looking deep into her eyes with the same emotion she was looking at him with. She felt it so strongly that she wanted to collapse to the ground below her. She stumbled on her feet and Nettleleaf held her up, "Steady" his breath felt warm on her cheek and as his pelt brushed against hers, it felt like bolts of lightning were surrounding them. "Oh Nettleleaf" She whispered, as she looked into his ice blue eyes, "Why me?" Category:Warriors Category:Cats Category:Clan cats Category:Firclan Category:Shadowclan Category:Thundercln Category:Riverclan Category:Windclan Category:Nettleleaf Category:Twig Category:Rouge cats Category:Sunpelt